Marco Rubio, Florida's GOP senator, unveils his reform ideas to 'modernize' the system and put illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship.

Marco Rubio41-year-old son of working-class Cuban exileshas lived the upwardly mobile immigrant experience. In his fast rise, the Florida Republican has also experienced the politics of immigration

[....]

"Here's how I envision it," he says. "They would have to come forward. They would have to undergo a background check." Anyone who committed a serious crime would be deported. "They would be fingerprinted," he continues. "They would have to pay a fine, pay back taxes, maybe even do community service. They would have to prove they've been here for an extended period of time. They understand some English and are assimilated. Then most of them would get legal status and be allowed to stay in this country."

Sorry Marco, but the words “illegal” and “path to citizenship” are mutually exclusive in my book. I do not care that your are hispanic, your parents are Cuban - whatever. What part of American Citizen, and all the requirements of being law-abiding do you not understand.

If this is your stand, you can do so without my vote, if and when you choose to run for an office for which my vote would count.

It's not that he gives good speeches, but that he's a “Republican of Color.” There are many people here on FR will only support non-Whites who declare themselves to be Republican... (And their true politics are unimportant)

Outside of my own Congressman, Broun, whose vote on each and every vote now becomes a bellwether for my vote, there is not one f@cking so-called Republican that I’d even vote for towel boy in a whoor house.

WASHINGTON
George W. Bush isn’t the first Republican president to face a full-blown immigration crisis on the US-Mexican border.

Fifty-three years ago, when newly elected Dwight Eisenhower moved into the White House, America’s southern frontier was as porous as a spaghetti sieve. As many as 3 million illegal migrants had walked and waded northward over a period of several years for jobs in California, Arizona, Texas, and points beyond.

President Eisenhower cut off this illegal traffic. He did it quickly and decisively with only 1,075 United States Border Patrol agents  less than one-tenth of today’s force. The operation is still highly praised among veterans of the Border Patrol.

Although there is little to no record of this operation in Ike’s official papers, one piece of historic evidence indicates how he felt. In 1951, Ike wrote a letter to Sen. William Fulbright (D) of Arkansas. The senator had just proposed that a special commission be created by Congress to examine unethical conduct by government officials who accepted gifts and favors in exchange for special treatment of private individuals.

General Eisenhower, who was gearing up for his run for the presidency, said “Amen” to Senator Fulbright’s proposal. He then quoted a report in The New York Times, highlighting one paragraph that said: “The rise in illegal border-crossing by Mexican ‘wetbacks’ to a current rate of more than 1,000,000 cases a year has been accompanied by a curious relaxation in ethical standards extending all the way from the farmer-exploiters of this contraband labor to the highest levels of the Federal Government.”

Years later, the late Herbert Brownell Jr., Eisenhower’s first attorney general, said in an interview with this writer that the president had a sense of urgency about illegal immigration when he took office.

America “was faced with a breakdown in law enforcement on a very large scale,” Mr. Brownell said. “When I say large scale, I mean hundreds of thousands were coming in from Mexico [every year] without restraint.”

Although an on-and-off guest-worker program for Mexicans was operating at the time, farmers and ranchers in the Southwest had become dependent on an additional low-cost, docile, illegal labor force of up to 3 million, mostly Mexican, laborers.

According to the Handbook of Texas Online, published by the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas State Historical Association, this illegal workforce had a severe impact on the wages of ordinary working Americans. The Handbook Online reports that a study by the President’s Commission on Migratory Labor in Texas in 1950 found that cotton growers in the Rio Grande Valley, where most illegal aliens in Texas worked, paid wages that were “approximately half” the farm wages paid elsewhere in the state.

Profits from illegal labor led to the kind of corruption that apparently worried Eisenhower. Joseph White, a retired 21-year veteran of the Border Patrol, says that in the early 1950s, some senior US officials overseeing immigration enforcement “had friends among the ranchers,” and agents “did not dare” arrest their illegal workers.

Walt Edwards, who joined the Border Patrol in 1951, tells a similar story. He says: “When we caught illegal aliens on farms and ranches, the farmer or rancher would often call and complain [to officials in El Paso]. And depending on how politically connected they were, there would be political intervention. That is how we got into this mess we are in now.”

Bill Chambers, who worked for a combined 33 years for the Border Patrol and the then-called US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), says politically powerful people are still fueling the flow of illegals.

During the 1950s, however, this “Good Old Boy” system changed under Eisenhower  if only for about 10 years.

In 1954, Ike appointed retired Gen. Joseph “Jumpin’ Joe” Swing, a former West Point classmate and veteran of the 101st Airborne, as the new INS commissioner.

Influential politicians, including Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson (D) of Texas and Sen. Pat McCarran (D) of Nevada, favored open borders, and were dead set against strong border enforcement, Brownell said. But General Swing’s close connections to the president shielded him  and the Border Patrol  from meddling by powerful political and corporate interests.

One of Swing’s first decisive acts was to transfer certain entrenched immigration officials out of the border area to other regions of the country where their political connections with people such as Senator Johnson would have no effect.

Then on June 17, 1954, what was called “Operation Wetback” began. Because political resistance was lower in California and Arizona, the roundup of aliens began there. Some 750 agents swept northward through agricultural areas with a goal of 1,000 apprehensions a day. By the end of July, over 50,000 aliens were caught in the two states. Another 488,000, fearing arrest, had fled the country.

By mid-July, the crackdown extended northward into Utah, Nevada, and Idaho, and eastward to Texas.

By September, 80,000 had been taken into custody in Texas, and an estimated 500,000 to 700,000 illegals had left the Lone Star State voluntarily.

Unlike today, Mexicans caught in the roundup were not simply released at the border, where they could easily reenter the US. To discourage their return, Swing arranged for buses and trains to take many aliens deep within Mexico before being set free.

Tens of thousands more were put aboard two hired ships, the Emancipation and the Mercurio. The ships ferried the aliens from Port Isabel, Texas, to Vera Cruz, Mexico, more than 500 miles south.

The sea voyage was “a rough trip, and they did not like it,” says Don Coppock, who worked his way up from Border Patrolman in 1941 to eventually head the Border Patrol from 1960 to 1973.

Mr. Coppock says he “cannot understand why [President] Bush let [today’s] problem get away from him as it has. I guess it was his compassionate conservatism, and trying to please [Mexican President] Vincente Fox.”

There are now said to be 12 million to 20 million illegal aliens in the US. Of the Mexicans who live here, an estimated 85 percent are here illegally.

Border Patrol vets offer tips on curbing illegal immigration
One day in 1954, Border Patrol agent Walt Edwards picked up a newspaper in Big Spring, Texas, and saw some startling news. The government was launching an all-out drive to oust illegal aliens from the United States.

The orders came straight from the top, where the new president, Dwight Eisenhower, had put a former West Point classmate, Gen. Joseph Swing, in charge of immigration enforcement.

General Swing’s fast-moving campaign soon secured America’s borders  an accomplishment no other president has since equaled. Illegal migration had dropped 95 percent by the late 1950s.

Several retired Border Patrol agents who took part in the 1950s effort, including Mr. Edwards, say much of what Swing did could be repeated today.

“Some say we cannot send 12 million illegals now in the United States back where they came from. Of course we can!” Edwards says.

Donald Coppock, who headed the Patrol from 1960 to 1973, says that if Swing and Ike were still running immigration enforcement, “they’d be on top of this in a minute.”

William Chambers, another ‘50s veteran, agrees. “They could do a pretty good job” sealing the border.

Edwards says: “When we start enforcing the law, these various businesses are, on their own, going to replace their [illegal] workforce with a legal workforce.”

While Congress debates building a fence on the border, these veterans say other actions should have higher priority.

1. End the current practice of taking captured Mexican aliens to the border and releasing them. Instead, deport them deep into Mexico, where return to the US would be more costly.

2. Crack down hard on employers who hire illegals. Without jobs, the aliens won’t come.

3. End “catch and release” for non-Mexican aliens. It is common for illegal migrants not from Mexico to be set free after their arrest if they promise to appear later before a judge. Few show up.

The Patrol veterans say enforcement could also be aided by a legalized guest- worker program that permits Mexicans to register in their country for temporary jobs in the US. Eisenhower’s team ran such a program. It permitted up to 400,000 Mexicans a year to enter the US for various agriculture jobs that lasted for 12 to 52 weeks.

I'll bet the Chicoms would be interested to know our political class doesn't consider invading our borders a "serious crime". FU Marco Rubio, from a fellow Floridian. You're a shining generational example of why arbitrary citizenship shouldn't be handed to people who don't have the balls to fix the problems in their own Country.

11
posted on 01/12/2013 10:35:55 AM PST
by liberalh8ter
(If Barack has a memory like a steel trap, why can't he remember what the Constitution says?)

The only conservative thing he has done in the Senate was vote against the Fiscal Cliff bill....but in other votes he has sided with the Dems...he votes with Dems as much as a NE Liberal GOP does

Marco Rubio is a big supporter of Illegal Alien Amnesty...especially DREAM Act Amnesty. Any amnesty will require BILLIONS and BILLIONS of DOLLARS in spending to provide Amnesty and benefits to Illegal Aliens. This is not Conservative

Rubio, while Speaker of the Florida House, stopped numerous bills that would have given Florida similar laws on illegals like Alabama, Georgia, and Arizona

Rubio is Amnesty Liberal...and I will not waste my conservative vote on him

12
posted on 01/12/2013 10:39:28 AM PST
by SeminoleCounty
(The only automatic weapon is the one Obama uses to take your paycheck)

When is the treatment of American citizens in Mexico and other latin American countries and their rights vs US treatment of particularly Mexicans going to be an issue when we discuss amnesty ?

Ever hear of reciprocal aggrements ? These are arranged to protect the rights of American citizens working or living in other countries.

Why is it when it comes to citizens of other countries we are required to offer them the same privledges as we do to US citizens? But when it comes to US citizens who get in trouble or attempt to do business in other countries they do not get the same treatment their citizens get.

Americans cant own coast land in Mexico. And get no title to it elsewhere. If they run out of cash theyll get unceremoniously sent back or put in jail untill some relative comes up with the fresh. Thats just for starters as for granting them voting privledges yea lets give Mexican citizens that right when American citizens vote in their elections .

I specifically deal with the Rubio problem in the December, 2012 Feature at my Truth Based Logic web site: Whither American Conservatism. I would urge Conservative Floridians, not to write Rubio off, but rather have the frank talk with him that is suggested in the article.

Conservatives need to take charge of the immigration debate. Trying to preserve the cultural base of your institutions is not something anyone should apologize for; nor should those who have benefited from American hospitality, in the past, be encouraged to bite the hand that benefited them, by putting their overseas cousins ahead of their hosts--and that truly is at issue here.

The reality, also, is that we have limited space, limited resources. It is not wrong to try to preserve these for our posterity.

...who has learned the appropriate things to say to a conservative audience.

I started out liking what he had to say, but then he started down the amnesty path.

I've since listened and watched with a more critical ear and eye and, while I do appreciate his votes for things I believe in, I would not support or vote for him if I lived in Florida due to his push for amnesty. I simply do not trust him now.

No way he'd ever get my vote for VP or President, because, while he is an American citizen, he's not a NBC. (Born in country to citizen parents)

19
posted on 01/12/2013 11:11:36 AM PST
by GBA
(Here in the Matrix, life is but a dream.)

"Here's how I envision it," he says. "They would have to come forward. They would have to undergo a background check." Anyone who committed a serious crime would be deported. "They would be fingerprinted," he continues. "They would have to pay a fine, pay back taxes, maybe even do community service. They would have to prove they've been here for an extended period of time. They understand some English and are assimilated. Then most of them would get legal status and be allowed to stay in this country."

He plagiarized that right out of McCain's website.

It is the same yabbadabbadoodah they have been spewing for years.

What makes Rubio think this idea is going to work any better than the previous ones? Show us how you intent to enforce it, and it might be worth listening to.

But, as with McCain in 2008, he never could convince people that his plan was any more enforceable than the previous immigration plans.

We have plenty of illegals here already who have committed rape, murder, robbery, etc. We have gangs that are infiltating even smaller communities with their drive-by shooting, kill-a-person-at-random initiations, drugs, etc.

Sometimes the police catch them, but the courts let them go.

==

The town I grew up in had 1 night watchman when I was in high school.

Many of the newcomers are from south-of-the-border to work in the agricultural industry.

Rubio is a fraud. He has to know that any form of amnesty will be the destruction of our Republic as founded.

I have listened to many of his speeches. While the rhetoric can sound good, it is obvious he is an arrogant elitist. He has no love of our Constitution or true free markets. He's a smooth talking charlatan.

I have no doubt if he was President, he would be as big a spender as the Bush43.

Rubio is a realist. He realizes that deporting millions of people including children is just not going to happen. If this type of measure had been passed when Bush was president and Republicans still controlled Congress, we would have tied up the Hispanic vote for the foreseeable future, but instead those sensible measures were defeated by the xenophobes on the right and now we are facing catastrophe.

27
posted on 01/12/2013 12:52:41 PM PST
by Sarabaracuda
(Keep guns out of the hands of lunatics or the government will keep guns out of your hands.)

I just had a very interesting conversation with a second generation Cuban American who operates his family's highly successful custom furniture company.

Albert's family immigrated in 1960 along with other Cubans looking for the freedom to live, work and create, raising their families without the big hand of government "helping" them and confiscating their liberty at the same time.

He said that he is quite concerned, even scared that this country is quickly moving in the same direction as Cuba did.

His grandfather fled Spain under Franco for the same reasons, to Cuba, then later his parents fleeing to the U.S.

He said that many in his parents' generation weren't terribly worried at first, thinking that Castro was just a passing thing. Those who stayed behind either fled with barely the clothes on their backs or in some instance, with barely their lives, no money, no possessions. Others were unable to flee, they stayed too long and believing that things wouldn't get "that bad" and when they realized that they really were "that bad" it was too late.

He said that conditions under Obama have changed so quickly not to believe that they will continue to pick up steam.

He prefers to hire other Cubans but even with the Mexicans and others from South of the Border, they didn't come to the U.S. for freedom and liberty to work and build businesses and families but rather for the "programs that America has set up for immigrants!"

I asked him what he thought of Rubio and he said "he's only about gaining personal power and influence, not about the liberty and freedom his family came to America to enjoy."

He said he will not hire anyone that isn't here legally, not merely for legal reasons but he wants his work force to consist of people that desire to become Americans not merely here for programs, to send money back "home."

He doesn't plan on continuing his business as it has run for more than 50 years but going backward. He said that under Obamacare, he will be forced to let his employees go as he will be unable to provide what he is forced to provide but for religious reasons, he will not provide abortion pills sold as "birth control" but are really about ending life.

He said he can begging to envision himself becoming a one-man operation, letting his 35 employees go, making enough to sustain himself and his wife and sons.

He said it's sad that his family, with its rich heritage of being loyal and patriotic Americans, operating a thriving business, will return to a little mom and pop business but he will do just that rather than knuckle under to "just another dictator like Franco and Castro."

Your article is very interesting....However....Rubio has a history of supporting Illegal Alien Amnesty, well before he became US Senator

When he was Speaker of the Florida House, he routinely killed and squashed bills that would have given Florida strong laws dealing with Illegal Aliens. Now that Alabama and Georgia have strong laws on Illegal Aliens, Florida now becomes more attractive for the Illegal Alien....beyond those that are “migrant workers” in Florida agri-businesses

You will not reason or “change” a supporter of Illegal Alien Amnesty like Rubio. They will find ways to sweet-talk National/Border Security supporters....then turn around and back-door Amnesty-friendly bills

Instead of finding excuses to vote for, or hope that Rubio “changes”...it would be more prudent to find candidates who are stronger on National/Border Security.

Instead of the usual “Rubio is a conservative because Sean Hannity told me so”...lets do better research on candidates. Did you know there were 6 or 7 GOP candidates than ran against Rubio in the 2010 Senate primary? And most of them were pro-American, anti-Illegal Alien

36
posted on 01/12/2013 1:13:47 PM PST
by SeminoleCounty
(The only automatic weapon is the one Obama uses to take your paycheck)

Deport every damned one of them, children included. Their parents bear the responsibility for having them here in the first place.

"tied up the Hispanic vote"

LOL, tied up that sizeable percentage we get now, you mean? Face it, they will never vote for Republicans unless the Rs offer them all the freebies the Rats offer them. But I don't doubt that's on the way......Republican quislings are perfect invertebrates.

37
posted on 01/12/2013 1:18:20 PM PST
by CatherineofAragon
(Support Christian white males---the architects of the jewel known as Western Civilization)

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